Ming of Harlem: Twenty One Storeys in the Air, the debut feature film of UK artist/filmmaker Phillip Warnell (The Girl with the X-Ray Eyes, 2008; Outlandish: Strange Foreign Bodies, 2009; I First Saw the Light, 2012) advances a series of propositions
around sound-image-geographies, secret lives and extreme levels of
human-animal intimacy, ultimately privileging the presence of the
predatory animals themselves, as prodigious, exemplary visual creatures.

One component of the project consists of the 'only in New York' story of Ming, Al and Antoine Yates, who together co‐habited a high‐rise
apartment in Harlem for five years until 2003, when news of their
dwelling caused a public outcry and collective outpouring of disbelief.
Discovering that Ming was a 500lb Tiger and Al a 7ft Alligator, their
story took on an astonishing dimension. The film embraces the wonder of
these circumstances, how they might even have been conceived of, let
alone maintained for such duration.

Against the
backdrop of this particular "case study" in human-animal domestic
relations, the films focus is, however, on an extended time spent with
the animals themselves, observing their prodigious attributes, behaviour
and predatory presence in unfamiliar surroundings. It will also reflect
in broader terms on the close proximity between big cat and human using
startling archival footage of Mabel Stark, tiger training pioneer and
queen of the big cat circus display, from the 1960's. Her
extraordinarily intimate actions and communication with big cats, as per
those of Antoine Yates, verged on extreme animal relations. Ming of Harlem: Twenty One Storeys in the Air develops
a bizarre, secret and dangerous domain, mixing real and staged spaces,
time frames, recollections and environments, juxtaposing news and
archive, animal time and social elements. The film develops, in philosophical terms, ideas on proximity
and captivation between species.

A cinematic mix of
(documentary) material shot with Yates is combined with filmed "encounters" with a tiger and an alligator, filmed at locations in the UK, , material generated within two
specially designed and constructed animal apartment/sets. These,
unusually positioned within existing animal enclosures, thus located in
animal territory, corresponds loosely to a re-imagining of the space
of the a high-rise, climate controlled apartment. Exploring the
confines of the set -the Tiger and Alligator are observed during feeding, at play, in repose, during both
day and evening.

Extended passages
filmed from within the corridors and rooms of the set will dominate the
film, intended to enable the atmospheres of 'animal time'. Languishing,
embodied metaphors, de-territorialised, territorial behaviour, in
contrast to both Harlem and a third element: the stark, diagrammatical
and dynamic aerial view of the set from directly above. Archival sonic material
features prominently in the film, building an interwoven
soundscape as soundtrack.

Key contributors to the film include a voiced text, by Icelandic composer and musician Hildur Gudnadóttir, penned by philosopher and collaborator Jean-Luc Nancy especially
for the project, 'Oh the language Animals'. and extensive interviews with tigerman Antoine Yates and the 'working life history' of the stand-in Tiger and Alligator.
The cinematography and lighting is by award winning DOP David Raedeker (awarded the Grand Jury Prize in Cinematography, World Cinema, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for My Brother the Devil, (Best European Film, Europa Cinemas Award, Berlinale 2004; Grand Jury Prize, LA Outfest). Other credits include The Whale (2014); The Village (2014); I Am Masrine; Elvis Pelvis;Top Girl. Previous collaborations with Phillip Warnell include I First Saw the Light, 2012 and The Girl with X-ray Eyes, 2008).
Shot on location in New York City, The Isle of Wight Zoo, (with the collaboration of Charlotte Corney) and Crocodiles of the World, (with the collaboration of Sean Foggett), the architectural design of the set is by Tomas Klassnik, constructed by London-based artist Matthew Tickle. Location sound recording by David Hocs (U.S.) and Adam Gutch and Chu-Li Shewring (UK); sound design and mix by Emmet O'Donnell; editing by Phillip Warnell and Chiara Armentano; Associate Producer: Jacqui Davies; digital intermediate and finishing by Technicolor London.

The film is a production of Big Other Films, Ltd, London, in association with The Wellcome Trust (UK), Picture Palace Pictures (US) & Michigan Films (Belgium), with additional support from the CCA, VAF, Arts Council of England, Kingston University, and the FID Lab.

"When
I turned and called him, he would come up on his hind feet and put both
feet round my neck. Pull me to the ground, grab me by the head, you
know a male tiger grabs the female by the neck and holds her and growls
till the critical moment is over. So, in this fashion, Rajah grabbed me
and held me. We kept rolling over till he was through, and while the
audience could not see what Rajah was doing, his growling made a hit." Mabel Stark - Hold That Tiger